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Tiare Ferguson Seinor Profile
DURHAM, N.C. - Women's cross country performer Tiare Ferguson stopped by GoDuke.com for her senior profile on Sept. 25. Find out a lot of her favorites including food, and TV show, what her nickname is and much more.
GoDuke.com: What is your nickname?
Tiare Ferguson: My friends at home call me Barrio June. I don't know why. They even have a song about it.
GD: What do you have in your iPod before a game?
TF: Something ridiculously mellow, like Jack Johnson. I will never hear the end of the time that Nina [Daniels] borrowed my iPod to run with. She wanted to punch me.
GD: What's your favorite book?
TF: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Johnathan Saffran Foer. I've read it way too many times. At one point last year I got in the habit of reading the first few pages before bed. I couldn't sleep unless I read it.
GD: What's the last non-school related book you read?
TF: The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. It's a memoir about growing up with parents that were voluntarily homeless and inarguably insane.
GD: What's your favorite TV show?
TF: I don't really have a timeless favorite TV show. I do have timeless favorite characters though, specifically Ari (Entourage), Christine (The New Adventures of Old Christine), and Kramer (Seinfeld). Right now I'm in the Arrested Development phase. All the characters are priceless.
GD: What's your favorite food?
TF: Cookout pineapple milkshake. It reminds me of these pina colada-flavored all-fruit popsicles I used to get when I was little.
GD: What's your best non-athletic talent?
TF: Cooking. I'm a great cook. I'm especially good with garlic salt.
GD: What are you planning on doing after graduation?
TF: I want to take some time off before I go to grad school. The plan is to not have a plan, at least for a little while. I'm really excited about it.
GD: Who's had the most impact on your athletic career and why?
TF: My older sister, Haley, because she has and continues to leave me with big shoes to fill. Excellence is not my prerogative, I'm just trying to measure up.
GD: What's your favorite part of practice and why?
TF: Cooling down after a hard workout. There is a shared sense of relief, pride and accomplishment that only your teammates understand. The feeling is incredible.
GD: What's the thing you most admire about your coach [Kevin Jermyn] and why?
TF: His straightforward way of communicating. I can always take what he says at face value. I also really admire his rock-climbing skills.
GD: Where is your favorite place to play outside of Duke?
TF: I don't “play” running but I do love to run on the road by my home in Kula, Maui (Hawaii). I also love running in Telluride, Colo. And I like to play at Makena Beach, in Makena, Hawaii.
GD: Who is your favorite professional player outside your sport?
TF: Roger Federer... so dirty.
GD: What is your favorite movie?
TF: Love Actually. Because in a perfect world, Hugh Grant really would be the prime minister of England. That is totally untrue, but I still love the movie.
GD: Who’s your favorite fictional character (from a TV show, growing up, etc.)?
TF: Oscar Schell. If you know who that is I will give you a hu-uuge hug and/or five bucks.
GD: Do you have any pregame rituals?
TF: I shave my legs. It makes me feel fast. And I am sure it’s very aerodynamic.
GD: Where is your secret spot to study?
TF: I will do work wherever I can bring Joey, my dog. This limits my indoor studying capacity somewhat--- I really don't do much work.
GD: Who was your childhood hero?
TF: My kindergarten teacher, Metta. She still is my hero. She gave me my first Snickers bar, my first steak and my first Gameboy.
GD: What is your advice to children?
TF: Who gives advice to children? I'd rather get advice from them.
GD: Why did you choose to attend Duke?
TF: Duke is about 6,000 miles from home. My decision to come here surprised everyone, myself included. And then, just before graduation, my seventh grade English teacher gave me a letter I had put in a time capsule five years earlier. In it, it said, "I hope you (my future self) are going to Duke or Brown, but you probably won't get in because you aren't smart enough." Touche, young one (I almost certainly wouldn't have gotten in here on my smarts). This experience has taught me to respect the power of dreaming. And to be careful what I wish for.
GD: What’s your favorite video game?
TF: Super Nintendo’s Super Mario World, obviously. I hear WII tennis is pretty unreal too.
